Clutch.



E. W. BRACKETT.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10. l9l3.

1,21 9,698. Patented Mar 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOR/VEY E. W. BRACKETT.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATIONFILED SEPT. 10, l9l3.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

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WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT m n ERNEST W. BRACKETT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR '10 SPLITDORF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, ,OENEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

CLUTCH.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 10, 1913. Serial No. 789,202.

I sisting of a driving and a driven member and means for connectingthese members together in an operative manner so that they will actpositively and without noise, friction and consequent wear of the partsas usu-- ally accompanying the working of an ordinary clutch.

My invention is more partlcularly adapted for use in starting internalcombustion en gines, used on moving vehicles, such as automobiles,'motor boats, flying machines and the like and in order to bring out thefeatures of my invention, I have shown the same as applied to anautomobile engine.

My invention is directed particularly to the means by which a startingmotor can be connected and disconnected from an internal combustionengine.

In the early days of the automobile in dustry, the usual method ofstarting the engine was by means of a hand crank, but to make it easierand more convenient, certain mechanisms have been applied to the engineby which the same can be started from the drivers seat. A number of waysand means have been suggested and tried out for this work. The majorityof which devices use overrunning clutches, so that when the englne picksup under its own power, 1t 1s free to run away from the drivmg member. Ihave found, by tests and experiments,

that these overrunning clutches are relatively expensive and give agreat deal of trouble, in that they are susceptible to wear.

By my invention, I seek to overcome'these diiiiculties and have produceda clutch which is simple, cheap to manufacture and is free from defectsexisting in clutches in use at the present time.

My improvements are illustrated in the following drawings in which likecharacters are used, to represent corresponding parts in the variousfigures.

Figure 1 is a plan view, showing a portion of the engine and thechassis, on which the engine is mounted, together with the startingmotor and reducing gear, and the clutch connected thereto, a portion ofthe clutch being shown in section.

Flg. 2- is an end elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 1s a view of'the two clutch members, wlth the large drivingsprocket removed.

4 is a View partly in section on the I B of'Fig. 3, and showing thelarge dI'1V 1I1g sprocket assembled in position.

Fig. 5 1s one view of one of the pawls, used on one of the clutchmembers.

Fig. 6 is a side view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 shows the driving member complete.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line C D of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 shows the modified form of pawl and Fig. 10 is a sectionaldrawing of Fig. 9.

Fig. '11 shows the end view of a modified form or arrangement of mydevice, a portion being broken away to show the manner of holding thepawls with the ratchet wheel.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of Fig. 11, a portion being shown insection, 'to illustrate the details of Fig. 11.

Referring particularly to the details, 1 represents a portion of theengine, which is mounted on the frame work 2. Attached to the side ofthe engine by means of a bracket 5, and straps 4, is an electric motor3. Mounted on the end of the motor 3, is a gear casing 6, which inclosesa suitable set of gears for reducing the speed of the motor to a certainpredetermined point. At this point, I may state, that it is preferableto use a comparatively high speed motor for this class of work, and toconnect it with the engine that is tobe started through a suitable gearreduction. This gear reduction is not shown as it forms no part of myinvention.

ounted on the shaft extension of said gear reduction is a small sprocket7, con nected to the large sprocket 8, by means of a suitable chain 9.The chain 9, therefore. becomes the driving medium for the drivingmember of the clutch. This driving member, as illustrated in Figs. 7 and8, consists of the sprocket wheel 8, mounted on a suitable sleeve 28.Fastened securely to the sprocket wheel, is an element preferably put upas a unitary structure. This element as shown, consists of threeportions, 13, 14c and 1a. The parts 13 and 14 are suitable metal pieces,adapted to carry the strain, or load,

Fi line A Patented Mar. so, rare.

out of engagement position on the Sprocket 8.

applied to them by the pawls, which will be fastened together by rivets,19, and then the unit is mounted on the sleeve. 28, and fastened tothesprocket wheel and sleeve by means of bolts, passing through the holes34. These bolts are not shown. I may also use dowel pins to help holdthe said piece in Between this unitary ratchet wheel and the sprocketwheel is a piece 12, preferably of sheet metal, which serves as ahousing for the ratchet wheel and the pawls when the driving and drivenmembers are assembled.

The driven member as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, consists of a metalwheel 11, having a projecting hub, which hub slips onover the crankshaft 10 of the engine, and 1s securely fastened thereto as by means ofkey or by a shrink fit. The wheel 11, .as shown, is adapted to receive abelt on the outer portion, said belt being used to drive the fan forkeeping the radiator of the engine cool. .l-Iowever, this is in somecases, not needed, but in the present ease, is utilized for thispurpose. Mounted on the inner surface of the wheel 11, are a pluralityof pawls 16, which are set on pins 31. Pressing against the pawls aresprings 17, which are fastened to the wheel by means of the rivets 18.The springs 17 hold the pawls in engagement with the sound deaden ngpiece 15. One of the pawls is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, but is so simpleas not to need any further description. I have so arranged the number ofpawls and teeth in the ratchet wheel that one of the pawls is nearlyready to engage with one of the said teeth in whatever position they maybe placed. The object of this is to prevent clashing and erks when thedriving member engages the driven member; in other words, my arrangementof pawls and ratchets is such as to give a smooth and easy operation.

The operation of the clutch shown in the drawings, and as abovedescribed, is as follows The operator by means of push switch connectsthe source of power, usually a storage battery, to the starting motor.The starting switch, battery and leads to the motor, are not shown, forthe sake of simplicity, as it is well known, how these connections aremade. As s on as the power is applied to the motor, the driving memberdriven by the sprocket 8, begins to turn, and almost immediately one ofthe pawls engages with a ratchet palaces tooth attached ,to the drivingmember, and causes the driven member, which as previously described, isconnected to the crank shaft, of the engine, to turn, and theenginetakes in a charge'of gas, and is fired in the usual manner. As soon asthe charge is fired, and engine picks up under its own power, it beginsto turn the shaft and driven member considerably faster than it wasformerly turned by the electric motor, and the driven member .carryingthe pawls, runs away from the ratchet element connected to the drivingmember. As the pawls run over the ratchet elements, they engage thesound deadening part 15, andthe noise consequent to a pawl and ratchetdevice operated in this manner, is eliminated. As soonas the enginereaches a certain predetermined speed, the pawls are thrown out bycentrifugal force, away fromJthe ratchet element, and remain out ofengagement with the said ratchet element. 0n slowing down the engine, orbringing this speed to a certain pre-' determined amount, the springs 17carry the pawls back on to the sound deadening part 15, and when theengine stops, leave them in a position to engage the ratchet elementwhen it is again desired to start the engine. With this construction, Ihave found that the sound produced by the ordinary pawls and ratchetelement, to be very objectionable, and I have overcome this difficultyby the construction above described.

I do not wish tobe limited to this exact construction, as I may use aratchet element without any sound deadening device associated therewith,as I may place this sound deadening device in the pawl itself. This isillustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, in which, 20 and 21 are the two strainelements, and 22 is the sound deadening piece, all being fastenedtogether by the rivet 23, and bushing 24. I may also hold the pawls outof engagement, with the ratchet wheel and cause them to engage with theratchet wheel in other ways, one of which is shown in Figs.

11 and 12. As shown in said figures, 25 is a annular plate 30. By meansof spring 29,

these pins hold the plate 30, in the position shown in Fig. 12, and alsoin the part section of Fig. 11, the position of plate 30, as shown,maintains thepawls out of engagement with the ratchet.

- When the foot switch is operated, the lever 25 is also operated, andthis through the said pins 26 and plate 33, and the pins 27, carries theplate 30 back out of engagement from the pawls and allows them to dropdown on the ratchet wheel, and they are then ready to engage theratchets, and consequently drive the driven member. While I have shown anoise killing piece 15, between the strain elements 13 and 14 in thismodified form, it mayor may not be used, for

since the pawls are held away from the ratchet wheel by plate 30, theycan produce no clicking noise at very slow speeds of the engine, inwhich condition, the pawls are down in my preferred form. When theengine picks up under its own power,the pawls 16 are thrown out ofengagement with the ratchet wheel, as previously described, and

when the foot is released from the starting switch, the plate 30 goesback into the position shown, and the pawls are thus held away from theratchet wheel.

My clutch as shown and described herein is particularly adapted for thepurpose of starting a hydrocarbon-engine and I believe I am the first touse a clutch of this character for this purpose. I have shown anddescribed the preferred form of my invention and have shown by way ofillustration, two modified forms which are the means of killing noiseproduced by the pawls and ratchets during engagement at a certain speedyet I do not wish to. be limited to the exact forms shown, as it iseasily seen that a number of changes can be made in the various devices,without departing from the, spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is:

1. A clutch consisting of a driven member' and a driving member, saiddriving member comprising a sprocket wheel and a ratchet wheel, andhaving a flanged member between said sprocket wheel and ratchet wheel,and extending over the driven member to form a housing for the partswithin said driven member.

2. A clutch consisting of two members, one adapted to be driven, and theother adapted to act as the driver, said driver consisting of a sprocketwheel and a ratchet wheel, rigidly connected, said ratchet wheel havingtwo elements of similar character, with a sound deadening elementclamped therebetween, and means'on the driven element to engage the twoelements on the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.

3. A clutch consisting of a driving and a driven member, said drivingmember consisting of a ratchet device provided with teeth and having anoise reducing element associated with a strain or working element orelements, said driven member carrying a plurality of pawls, said noisereduclng element constructed and arranged to keep the pawls from contactwith the strain or working element or elements except at the workingportions of the teeth.

4. In a device of the class described, a driving member including asleeve which serves as a bearing for said driving mem ber and a sprocketwheel mounted upon said sleeve to rotate therewith, a driven memberadjacent to the driving member and having apart overhanging a portion ofthe driving member and another part formed to receive a belt, clutchingmeans between the overhanging part of the driven member and the drivingmember, and a sheet metal member between said sprocket wheel and thedriven member and adapted to cooperate with said overhanging partthereof to form a housing for the clutching parts.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivenmember and a driving member, said driving'member carrying a ratchetwheel and a sound reducing element rigidly attached to said ratchetwheel teeth, said driven member carrying pawls so distributed around theperiphery of the ratchet wheel that one of said pawls is supported onthe sound deadening element and nearly ready to engage with one of theratchet teeth, on the ratchet Wheel, for the purpose as described.

6. A clutch consisting of the combination of driving and driven members,one of said members carrying a ratchet wheel and the other a pluralityof pawls, and means operatively associated with said driving and drivenmembers constructed and arranged to keep the pawls from contact with theratchet wheel except at the working portions of the teeth thereof.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivingand a driven member, said driving member carrying a ratchet wheel, saiddriven member carrying a plurality of pawls, sound deadening element orelements attached to one of said members, said pawls being so arrangedthat one 'or'more of them always rests on said sound deadening elementor elements when the driving and driven members are at rest and until apredetermined speed of the driven member is reached, substantially asand for the purpose described.

' 8. In a device of the character described, the combination of drivingand driven members, one of said members carrying a ratchet wheel and theother a plurality of pawls, means for producing substantially noiselessoperation of the pawls as they slide over the ratchet teeth and meansfor holding the pawls in normal engagement with the noise killing means,up to a predetermined speed, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination of drivingand driven members, one of said members carrying a sprocket anda ratchetwheel and having a flanged member therebetween and extending over thedriven member to form a housing and the other a plurality of pawls,means for normally holding the pawls out of engagement with the ratchetwheel, and means for causing them to engage therewith for Y the purposedescribed."

10. In a device-of the character described,

Y the combination of. a driving member and a into engagement with theratchet wheel, substantially as described.

11. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivenmember and a driving member, means on said members consisting of pawlsand ratchet teeth re-, spectively for-engaging and disengagingautomatically at predetermined speeds of the driven member, and anoise-killing device associated with one of said engaging means and soarranged with respect thereto that no working stress is imposed uponsaid noisekilling device while said pawls and ratchet teeth are inoperative engagement.

12. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivenmember and a driving member, pawls carried on said driven member, aratchet wheel carried on said driving member, a noise killing deviceassociated with said ratchet wheel and so disposed with respect theretoas to project above the slanting faces of the ratchet teeth but notbeyond the straight abrupt faces of said ratchet teeth, whereby nostress is applied to the noise killing device when the two firstmentioned members are in driving engagement with each other.

13. In adevice of the class described, a driving member including asprocket wheel mounted on a sleeve and a clutch portion adjacent saidsprocket and extending laterally therefrom, said sleeve being adapted torotate with said sprocket wheel as a bear-.

instance ing therefor, a driven inember adjacent to the driving memberand having a part overhanging said clutch portion of the driving 'memberand another part formed to" receive a fan belt, clutching means on theoverhanging part of said driven member adapted to cooperate with saidclutch portion of the driving member,'and a sheet metal member betweensaid sprocket wheel and the driven mem-ber'adapted to cobperate withsaid overtween said driving and driven. members, and

a sheet metal member between the sprocket wheeland said drivenmember'and adapted to cooperate with said cup-shaped end thereof to forma housing for the clutching parts.

15. In a device of the class described, driving and driven members, saiddriving member including a sprocket wheel, means adapted to clutch saidmembers together, and a sheet metal member adjacent said sprocket wheeland coiiperating with the driven member to form a housing for saidclutch means.

16. In a clutch, the combination of a driving member having a sprocketwheel attached thereto, a driven member adjacent to the driving memberand having a part overhanging a portion of the driving member andanother part formed and adapted to receive a fan belt, clutc ing meansbetween the overhanging. part 0 the driven member and the drivingmember, and a sheet metal member between the sprocket wheel and thedriven member and adapted to cobperate with said overhanging partthereof to form a housing for the clutching parts.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

W. BARTLETT, A. D. T. LIB Y.

